Our Favourite Books

My mum read to me from been born and as a child I had the wildest imagination. My parents used to laugh because I was such a creative storyteller and they were convinced that one day I’d write books. I vividly remember some of the strange stories I played as a youngster and the imaginary games I used to come with. As an adult, I could always see what a massive investment reading to a child could be and although I never knew I was going to have children, I did know that when I did, that we would read together from an early age.

It was actually J who started reading to Edie and Mabel during the week we were still hospital. He read out loud paragraphs of some storybook he’d picked up in the Sainsbury’s round the corner and as newborns do, Edie and Mabel dozed off listening to him.

When we started to get into a routine back at home, I incorporated a story just before naps. After a quick nappy change, I’d lie between the girls on the floor and hold the book up high for them to see the pictures while reading out loud. Then pop them in their cots and off to sleep they went.

Their attention span now they’re a little older, can be quite short at times but provided I pick one of their favourites, they will sit and listen for the whole book! So I thought I’d share some of our favourites, some of which were gifts to us, others were mine as a child.

Possibly the perfect bed time or nap time book. Our copy is mine from my childhood so was already looking a little rough around the edges but we’ve since took it everywhere with us on all our trips away as a quick nap time story. It’s about a sleepy teddy bear who just can’t get the rest he needs… I know the feeling well!

Though the girls were obviously too young to get each other Christmas presents last year, we helped out a little and got them books for each other. This was a present from Mabel to our very own Edie. The Edie in the book is extremely helpful, sometimes too helpful. It’s charming, funny and my Edie goes wild with excitement when she sees the little girl on the front.

This personalised children’s book is heartbreakingly cute. It was Edie’s present for Mabel for Christmas last year and though there isn’t a specific edition for twins, we added a note in the front to explain as she got older. They both adore this book and especially love the illustration on the last couple of pages.

I’d already purchased Coco Chanel from this wonderful series which the girls loved when were kindly sent Jane Austen by the National Theatre Bookshop. The illustrations are quirky and the books tell the stories of little people who ended up doing amazing things. We’ve since picked up the paperback versions for Frida Kahlo and Rosa Parks at a charity event and they’re equally inspiring and lovely.

“This is the first time there’s ever been you, so I wonder what wonderful things you will do…”

I couldn’t have put it better myself. My absolute favourite and Mabel and Edie’s too… this is the perfect present for anyone who is pregnant or even a wonderful Christening gift. I cannot get over how beautiful both the sentiment and illustrations are.

Not so much a story book but we picked this up when we visited Edinburgh Zoo in the summer. It has the most gorgeous illustrations of zoo animals, cute little facts and the hard back pages are perfect for little hands to flick through.

I found this in TK Maxx as Mabel loves animals and anything with big eyes. It’s more of a touch and feel book than a story but she howls with laughter when we read it together. It’s quirky, funny and brings a smile to all our faces.

I’ve got so many more favourites that I want to list but I’ll have to do another post perhaps. Now Edie has started to enjoy ripping paper, we’ve had to move most of our paperbacks to a place she can’t reach so we’re working through a select few and then changing. If you have any recommendations then please send them over to me – I think I might have a bit of an addiction to buying children’s books!

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Hi, I'm Katy! Girl in the North has been growing with me for over 17 years now since I started my blogging journey and features everything from burgers to babies and everything in between. To find out more about me take a look here or if you'd like to work with me click here.

From time to time I do accept press samples and receive product and services to review as part of my job. Outward links to retailers will sometimes be affiliate links which means I can sometimes receive a very small percentage of any resulting sale.